Best Middle Schools in California

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Find the best California middle schools with SchoolDigger.com! Focused on test scores for accurate rankings, our user-friendly site simplifies your search. Empower your decisions by exploring top-rated schools, only on SchoolDigger.com - the ultimate guide to K-12 schools!

Year after year, SchoolDigger is always the first to publish California test scores and rankings. Other sites use stale test score data that are several years old! Be in the know with the very latest performance metrics.

The list is updated annually upon the release of the CAST and Smarter Balanced Assessments test scores by the California Department of Education. The most recent update was on Thursday, October 10, 2024.

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School															Students/Teachers											Per Pupil Expenditures (2018)							Ranking (2024 vs 2023)
ID	Rank (of 2777)	School	Type	Grades	Address	City	Zip	County	District	Is Charter	Is Magnet	Is Virtual	Is Title I	Phone	# Students	Full-time Teachers	Student/ Teacher Ratio	Free/Disc Lunch Recipients	White	Black	Hispanic	Asian	American Indian	Pacific Islander	Two or More Races	Per Pupil Expenditures: Total	Personnel from Federal Funds	Non-Personnel from Federal Funds	Total from Federal Funds	Personnel from State and Local Funds	Non-Personnel from State and Local Funds	Total from State and Local Funds	Average Standard Score (2024)	Average Standard Score (2023)	Rank (2023)	Rank Change from 2023	SchoolDigger Rating (2024)
069107808010	2759	Renaissance County Community	Public	7-12	14600 Cerise Ave.	Hawthorne	90250	Los Angeles County	Los Angeles County Office of Education	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(310) 970-9910	129	12	10.7	73.6%	5 (3.9%)	21 (16.3%)	98 (76.0%)	3 (2.3%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	2 (1.6%)	$19,188							5.3			(n/a)
069104010682	2759	Sonoma County Alternative Education Programs	Public, Alternative	K-12	5340 Skylane Blvd.	Santa Rosa	95403	Sonoma County	Sonoma County Office of Education	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(707) 524-2876	58	4	14.5	63.8%	13 (22.4%)	2 (3.4%)	38 (65.5%)	1 (1.7%)	2 (3.4%)	1 (1.7%)	1 (1.7%)	$44,305							5.3			(n/a)
062088014588	2759	The Leadership Academy	Public	K-8	44310 Hardwood Ave.	Lancaster	93534	Los Angeles County	Lancaster Elementary	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(661) 726-5454	39	4	9.7	92.3%	5 (12.8%)	24 (61.5%)	9 (23.1%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (2.6%)								5.3			(n/a)
069101209226	2764	Kern County Juvenile Court	Public, Alternative	K-12	1300 17th St.	Bakersfield	93301	Kern County	Kern County Office of Education	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(661) 636-4327	238	24	9.8	98.7%	35 (14.7%)	55 (23.1%)	146 (61.3%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.4%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (0.4%)	$15,750							5.3	5.4	2789	25
060837012830	2765	Center for Alternative Learning	Public	6-12	290 East Ave.	Chico	95926	Butte County	Chico Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(530) 891-3092	30	3	9.9	100.0%	11 (36.7%)	4 (13.3%)	10 (33.3%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	5 (16.7%)	$10,814							5.3	10.6	2689	76
069102409236	2766	ACCESS Juvenile Hall	Public, Alternative	K-12	200 Kalmus Dr.	Costa Mesa	92626	Orange County	Orange County Department of Education	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(714) 935-7651	234	27	8.6	98.7%	17 (7.3%)	7 (3.0%)	173 (73.9%)	3 (1.3%)	1 (0.4%)	1 (0.4%)	32 (13.7%)	$25,331							5.3			(n/a)
060198000086	2767	Allensworth Elementary	Public	K-8	3320 Young Rd.	Earlimart	93219	Tulare County	Allensworth Elementary	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(661) 849-2401	91	5	18.3	100.0%	0 (0.0%)	1 (1.1%)	90 (98.9%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)								5.3			(n/a)
061455012434	2768	Phoenix Secondary	Public	7-12	5320 E. Church Ave	Fresno	93725	Fresno County	Fresno Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(559) 253-6520	56	17	3.2	94.6%	9 (16.1%)	11 (19.6%)	35 (62.5%)	0 (0.0%)	1 (1.8%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	$63,943							5.3	4.7	2800	32
063525008473	2769	Community Day	Public	7-11	818 L St.	Sanger	93657	Fresno County	Sanger Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(559) 524-6630	30	5	6	80.0%	3 (10.0%)	0 (0.0%)	26 (86.7%)	1 (3.3%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	0 (0.0%)	$23,707							5.3			(n/a)
061970009385	2770	Mountain View (Alternative)	Public, Alternative	K-12	877 E. North Ave.	Reedley	93654	Fresno County	Kings Canyon Joint Unified	No	(n/a)	No	(n/a)	(559) 305-7080	274	13	20.6	90.5%	15 (5.5%)	0 (0.0%)	254 (92.7%)	0 (0.0%)	2 (0.7%)	0 (0.0%)	3 (1.1%)	$6,029							5.3	6	2777	7

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Other SchoolDigger ranking lists for California

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New! SchoolDigger ranking lists for CA student subgroups:

Female Students Male Students Asian Students African American Students Hispanic Students Pacific Islander Students White Students Multi-racial Students English Language Learner Students Special Education Students Low Socio Economic Status Students Migrant Students Homeless Students Military Connected Students

About our rankings:

Schooldigger calculates school rankings based on Smarter Balanced Assessments English Language Arts/Literacy, Smarter Balanced Assessments Mathematics, CAST Science test scores released by the California Department of Education.
These rankings were last updated on October 10, 2024, and are based on the most recent test scores available. We update rankings as we receive new test scores from the California Department of Education, usually on a yearly basis.
Our sources of data include the National Center for Education Statistics, U.S. Department of Education and the California Department of Education.
For more information about our ranking process, please see our Ranking FAQ. Details about our methodology are here.

Educational resources:

High school students working on a science experiment

Magnet Schools: Unleashing the Power of Education

No Child Left Behind (NCLB): A Comprehensive Analysis of Its Impact on Education

SchoolDigger data sources: National Center for Education Statistics, U.S. Department of Education, the U.S. Census Bureau and the California Department of Education.